VW Dream

I was going to write the whole story but realized it could be a book - not that I would like to write a book about it, but that I think I would go into too much detail and bore the heck out of you. But why do I write this anyway? Cause this story was a big part of this yearned this dream lives on . . .VW Dream summary:
- We went camping along the Oregon coast last summer and loved it. Best holiday ever.
- We wanted to do more camping but with a growing family, we knew we couldn't get enough gear in our 90 Honda Accord. I mean we could but we knew there was a better way.
- A youth pastor friend of mine had a 75 VW Westy bus. He has had it for over 20 years. His kids almost grew up in it. The seed was planted.
- A co-worker of Angela's bought an 85 VW Westy bus. I had a really good look at how the newer fully campered bus worked. Water applied to seed.
- Read Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller. A decent story that involves a VW van. Didn't do to much to the seed, but it was about a VW van, like I said.
- Started scouring the net for deals. Read lots of forums. Spent lots of time at www.thesamba.com. Fertilizer applied to seed.
- Shared the dream with a few friends and family. They knew I was serious when I said I would sell my bike for it. I didn't really have the money so this would be the only way.
- The coworker of Angela's decided to sell his 85 Westy. We checked it out. My heart yearned. He was asking $8800. Ouch! No chance. The end of a dream???
- Another friend with a little more coin in his pocket got this idea that together we could buy a few vans and rent them out as a business. I was not too excited cause he wanted me to do all the work - mechanical and maintenance. If you know anything about these beasts, they involve a lot of mechanical and maintenance, none of which I had time for. Not so excited. Dream starts to fizzle as reality sets in.
- Same friend calls me up. Can you give me a ride to pick up a 1980 VW Vanagon Westfalia that I bought? Sure. Oh yeah, I just got a new paint job on it. Cool! The inside is gutted. Well, that is not so good. Yeah, and I want you to do all the work. Uh, ok, how come? Well, I bought it, got the paint job, if you rebuild the inside, we'll share it, rent it out, and share the profit. Hmmm, this dream becoming reality.
- I begin to think about this deal. I become less and less excited about it. I have never rebuilt a vehicle, let alone the interior. I have no idea how to do it, I have no money to do it, and I have no time to do it.
- The van gets parked at my house. Not sure if I like my own dream at this point.
- I look at the van at my house. Well, maybe this could be good.
- I remember I don't know what to do with it, that I have no time and money. This can't be good.
- I look at the van again. This time with my dad. He has a tonne of ideas. On a whim, we start stripping what is left of the interior.
** This is where the pictures come in. Click here to see the progression that follows.
- Now the interior is in my basement in need of a major overhaul. I become overwhelmed at not seeing a vision for what this thing could look like, only seeing the work ahead of me. I begin the occasional bouts of bitterness at this friend who forced this situation on me. Then I remember I agreed to it.
- I spend more time online and begin dreaming of the coming summer. Ok, this could work.
- I get to work. I am now inspired. I find $100 in my account. That gets me going on some materials and paint. That gets me going, but not too far cause I needed more.
- We were given a Volvo in pretty sweet condition complete with a few months of paid insurance. We really didn't need it so I decided to sell it. A young couple started comming to our church and needed a second car. I gave it to them for $500. (If this matter makes you wonder, talk to me about it. It is not as bad as it sounds).
- More materials, lots of labour, and too much time later, the $500 was gone and the inside pretty much done. So close to living the dream. The seed has sprouted.
- Angela is happy to have her husband back. I am happy to test this thing out. We are making summer plans. We are soo looking forward to having fun with this thing!
- I pay the taxes to license the van. There goes $150. Where is that going to come from? $90 per month to insure the van cause I was honest at ICBC that I would use it for work. I couldn't lie to say that it would be for pleasure only cause I was planning to take youth camping with it. But, now I am $240 above my budget.
- I filled it with gas. Right to the top. I took it for a spin. Heaven! Well, heaven at a top speed of 80km/hour. And heaven with a strong smell of gasoline.
- Yeah, gasoline was leaking out like a fire hose. Found the problem. Fixed the problem. Started van. New problem. More fire hose type gas spilage. Fix that problem. Ok, now on 1/4 tank of gas, I take off. The bitterness of loosing a tank of gas fades as I drive . . . and drive . . .
- Friends Steve & Lisa were heading off for Singapore to do mission work with HCJB. We wanted to be at their commissioning service and see them off cause we wouldn't see them in 4 years or so. Our first Vdubbing opportunity.
- Can this thing really make it to Saskatchewan? We weren't sure. We really had no idea what shape the engine was in. It was leaking oil, but it started well with no smoke, so that was a good sign. I decided to get it checked over.
- $ 400 sees us on our way with no leaks, new gaskets, plugs, filters, new side window, and more. Klaus is the best VW mechanic around. He wishes us luck.
- We are super exited. We leave in early June on our first trip. The first day we drive in the rain. We are cold cause I assumed the heater wouldn't work. I noticed the heat exchanger was rusted out months before.
- We got to one of the passes (I can't remember the name of it and don't feel like looking) enjoying our slow ride - 60km uphill, a screaming 100km down. All is well with the world, except that the ipod fm transmitter quit working. We listened to Everything Glorious by Passion and another singer who's name I can't remember right now cause those were the only 2 CD's we brought. Oh yeah, I put in a CD player thanks to a couple guys who were cleaning out their garages.
- I decided to play with the heater. What? Heat! And lots of it! And the sweet smell of exhaust. Lots of it! The gas heater that I didn't realize we had actually worked. I was able to find the balance between heat and exhaust fumes.
- Spent the first night at Golden. The night was as the name of the town implies - golden (insert groan).
- Woke up and brewed coffee over the camp stove. Sausage & Eggs commons right up! Ahh this is the life . . .
- Spend hours looking for a campsite near Brooks AB and have a terrible night. Mackenzie is doing fairly well but having a tough time at night. He is too scared to sleep on top so Angela stays on the bottom with him. Not the way we were hoping but at least we get some sleep.
- Ok, I am getting into too much detail. See how this could be a book?
- From Medicine hat, we couldn't break 90km. A strong head wind.
- By Maple creek, the rain had stopped and the engine was really working and getting hot. It's an air cooled engine by the way.
- By Swift Current, some knocking noises when I let off the gas. I figure it is because the engine is hot. I keep on truckin.
- Make it to the farm at Pambrun. Hooray!
- Visit my Sister Kim's family on the farm at Shamrock. Great times but it rained all day which meant we had a messy ride home. At times, we didn't think we would make it. All the weight of the vehicle was in the back with the engine so every time I hit the gas, the back end would slide out. We were on muddy roads. Check out the photos. There is a link on the right side called "VWDream"
- We actually hit the ditch at one time and it took a few seconds to maneuver out. Angela held her head in her lap and her heart in her throat the rest of the trip home.
- We got cleaned up. We had good visits with family and friends and said goodbye to Steve and Lisa. Time to head home.
- We make it to Maple Creek and found one of the best campsites we have been to yet. That is where the majority of the camping photos are from. This was paradise. We were looking forward to a summer of weekend getaways like this.
- We head for Calgary the next day. We chug along, the knocking sound returning after hard pulls.
- We make it to Calgary and spend a few days camping in my sister Angela's back yard. Good times. Good shopping.
- Hey, did I mention that Lukas was only 3 - 4 weeks old? This wasn't really a problem cause the van is a perfect vehicle to stop in a do what mothers and fathers need to do for babies. He actually did very well through the whole trip.
- Driving around Calgary was ok. It was leaving that caused concern. We never hit 90km and struggled to keep the van at 80km. Now, VW Vans are not fast to begin with but even with the wind, I began to think we may have a problem. But we just wanted to get home.
- I had been watching oil and transmission levels. I think I added a full litre of oil every second fill. Another sign of a problem.
- We filled gas in Lake Louise. This time, the van wouldn't start very well. I got it going but stalled leaving the parking lot, right behind a parked tow truck. Could this be our fate? I finally got it going and headed for home, now with a great deal of anxiety.
- Comming into Golden, I had to put it in first gear just to get up the hills. Semis were passing us. Only 450 more Km to go. We can make it!
- 30 km on the west side of Golden, we start climbing the big hills. The knocking sound has been serenading us for a few hours now, only on these hills, it has turned to banging. Banging turns to chugging then to grinding. We are still moving but in 1st gear. I decide to pull over. I pull into an abandoned logging road on the left side of the highway which faces uphill. I go to turn around and the VW stalls. I am half turned facing uphill. We have got a situation.
- Angela and I wrestle the van around the curve and point it back down hill. We are out of the view of people driving past.
- A guy randomly drives up the logging road for some odd reason. He turns out to be a gentleman. He gives me a ride to Golden (he was going the other way to Revelstoke) so I could get cell coverage and make a call to CAA. We bought CAA insurance at the last minute just before we left on our trip.
- We were towed to Golden. The mechanic said he could look at the van . . . in a month and a half. He decided he had enough time to listen to the engine. I did get it going and the melodies that flowed from the engine told him right away the the bottom end was gone. Great! We are not getting home tonight.
- We checked into a motel. Yeah, I know, we could have camped in the van but we were working with a bit of anxiety by this point. What were we to do?
- I called my friend Terry, who I drive truck for sometimes, to see if my dad could borrow his pickup truck and trailer to drive out to us the next day so we could get the van home. He asked me if I wanted his big truck (semi). I had never even thought that was a possibility. He said his family was leaving for holidays in Saskatchewan the next morning and could drive it up there for me. Ubelievable. God, you have something to do with this? Thanks.
- Sure enough, he loaded his family and his pickup on the back of the semi and drove out to Golden to give it to me. We put the van on it (see pics), had supper with his family at DQ, then we headed home. We made it home by midnight. What an ordeal.
- So, now I have the sweetest lawn ornament than anyone I know. Yeah, that's right, the van's engine is toast and we haven't fixed it yet. This is why I call this my VW dream: We had a VW van, we drove it, camped in it, and made memories in it. The dream is still alive. In fact, Mackenzie and I camped in it one night out in the yard, just the two of us. And last night, we played in there together. I found some of Mackenzie's cars on the top bed and he had to check them out, so now he likes being up on top. Go figure.
- We lament the loss of the van. We comment so often that if the van were working, we'd be out camping. The dream lives on.
- Because we co-own the van, it is hard to decide what to do. I would love to fix it up and use it again next summer. I would put a Subaru engine in it. The biggest obstacle is money and the fact that we don't outright own it. If we did, even Angela would invest some money into its repair. And to buy it outright is not an option cause the other guy put $3000 into it already. I got just over $1000 and a huge pile of labour into it. It has more money into it than it's worth. If we could sell it, I could get some cash out of it, sell my bike, and buy those paragliding lessons I want to take some day (my other dream). We'll see.

So that is the story that took a good chunk of our lives this year, and may continue to do the same in the future. Sorry it was sooo long. I also apologize for spelling errors and bad grammer but honestly, at this hour, I don't feel like reading through it to make corrections.

I am curious to know if anybody made it to the end of the story. If so, let me know.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- - - - Eleanor Roosevelt